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The Perfect Hollandaise

I posted the question on the Facebook page asking “how do you make the perfect hollandaise sauce?” and got a few different responses but the main tip was WHISK WHISK WHISK!

Here is recipe from Daniel Moore – Chef, Cookery Educator, and WACS (World Association of Chefs Societies) Accredited Culinary Judge. This recipe is one that he has been using for about 15 years and he has kindly agreed to let me post it on the blog – Thanks Daniel!

Hollandaise Sauce

Making good hollandaise takes a lot of practice.. This is the recipe Daniel uses for about 600 ml of sauce/

Add all ingredients EXCEPT the butter into a pot and bring it to the boil. Once boiled, turn it off and let it cool.

Melt butter in a seperate pot, and let it cool a little and settle. The yellow fat will rise, the white milk solids and water will fall. Don’t let it fall below body temp – about 40 degrees. The butter will be used in the fourth step.

Second Step:
8 Egg yolks

In a big stainless bowl put the yolks and strain the wine/vinegar mixture onto it. Whisk it up really well. This will take 3-4 minutes – the bigger the bowl and whisk, the better. It needs to be thick, pale and fluffy.

Third Step:
Boil a large pot of water and place the stainless steel bowl with egg mixture on top of it. Make sure there’s a good seal. Whisk…Whisk more. Whisk some more. You’ll find it goes white, fluffy, pale, and thick. Never stop whisking – if you do, you’ll get little chunks of scrambled egg. If this happens, whisk like your life depends on it. It may come back, it may not – you may have to start again.

When your eggs are cooked, you’ll have a “sabayon”. To test, take it off the heat, pick up some of the mix on the whisk, and drizzle it back into the bowl. If it sits up on the surface for a sec before going back into the mix, then it has reached ribbon, and is cooked.

Fourth Step:
Place a bowl on bench with someone helping to hold it. Slowly pour the warm butter into the Sabayon making sure you whisk ALL the time. Ensure you pour the butter in a thin stream, trying not to disturb the milk solids at the bottom, whisking constantly until it’s all incorporated.

Now is crunch time. If it falls below 35 degrees, or above 44, it will split. If the wind is blowing the wrong way, it will split.

From there, season with salt, fresh cracked white pepper, worcestershire sauce and tabasco. May also need some lemon, but remember it’s all to taste.

Store it in a warm place – the back of the stove might be ok, or if you’ve got a shelf above the stove that might be ok too.

the very same recipe i still use to this day. your whisking muscles will be most impressive after making this, just like mine *FLEX*
don’t forget to use good quality stuff for it. eg wine that is drinkable, and not the cheapest shittiest vinegar from the supermarket